Laminate materials of various polymers including but not limited to polyester, polypropylene, polyethylene, nylon and rayon, as well as natural fibers and fiberglass are known to be useful for a number of purposes. Exemplary of the many applications for these materials include office screens and partitions, ceiling tiles, building panels and various vehicle applications including as hood liners, head liners, floor liners and trim panels. Generally, where such laminated materials are going to be highly visible, they are decorated with a fabric facing material. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,083 to Diffrient discloses an office panel or screen including a three-ply corrugated cardboard sheet septum disposed between two sound insulation pads or panels all covered with decorative fabric.
While such a fabric covering enhances the aesthetic quality of the resulting product, it must be appreciated that it adds significantly to the overall cost of production. Naturally, these added costs must be passed along to the consumer. Further, fabric coverings generally add nothing to the structural as well as the sound and thermal insulating properties of the product.
One approach for addressing this problem is set forth in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/185,220, filed Jun. 27, 2002, entitled “Decorative Laminate For Fibrous Insulation Products” owned by the assignee of the present invention (OC case #25204). The panel described in this document incorporates a base layer of fibers and a separate facing layer of densified polyester fibers that not only enhances the rigidity and sound attenuating properties of the base acoustical insulating layer but also bears printed patterns, designs, graphics or other indicia on an exposed face thereof so as to display an aesthetically pleasing appearance. This enhanced aesthetic appearance is achieved sans a decorative fabric covering thereby substantially reducing overall production costs.
The present invention relates to yet another improvement. The panel of the present invention is formed from a single layer of fibers that may or may not have a densified surface zone. Printing is directly applied to this surface zone. Advantageously, since there is no lamination step, any risk for delamination of the product is avoided. Production costs and product complexity are reduced while product integrity is enhanced for a longer service life.